In the eyes of imaginative and opportunistic advertisers and marketers, bloggers and online influencers are the new celebrities and athletes. Brands are showering them with endorsement deals rich with products, cash, trips, exclusive access to information, and VIP treatment each and every day, creating a new genre of star spokespersons.

The press release is over 100 years old and for the most part, its evolution was mostly stagnant for the majority of its lifespan. However, the press release has evolved more in the last decade than it has over the century thanks to the proliferation of the Internet and most notably, the Social Web. The tired and oft disregarded press release is finally tasting reinvention as it transforms to chase the new channels of influence as well as adapt to the rapidly shifting behavior of content discovery, consumption and sharing.

I’ve just returned from Next09 in Hamburg and Disruptive Media in Stockholm where I’ve unveiled my new focus for what just may serve as the foundation for one of the next two books I hope to write.

As we are tempted by social networks and the kinship of new friends, followers, and fans, we intentionally or inadvertently, create a new era of personal recognition and attention that extracts an unconditioned human response and consequently shapes an unpredictable personality and behavior over time.

The race to 1,000,000 followers between Ashton Kutcher and CNN followed shortly thereafter by the Oprah Effect and the ensuing celebrity stampede has propelled Twitter beyond two of the world’s most prominent media brands.

According to Compete and Quantcast, as documented by PaidContent, Twitter.com soared past the online properties of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

If you don’t know Shira Lazar, you should. She is by far one of the most intelligent, creative and passionate people that I know and I’m proud to have her as a friend. During Demo09 in March, I had an opportunity to sit with Shira to discuss new ideas and opportunities to collaborate and concentrate those efforts towards something more meaningful than self-promotion.

I’m happy to announce an updated version of my ebook, “The Art and Science of Blogger Relations” is now available on Docstoc. For all of you Kindle enthusiasts, it is also available in Amazon’s Kindle Store.

The methodologies and tactics required for effective blogger relations will shatter everything you were taught or thought you know about traditional PR. Part “un” common sense, part market expert, part enthusiast, and part customer, together, this guide will help you embody the new techniques and mastery necessary to effectively excel in media, analyst, and blogger relations today and tomorrow – while building long term, meaningful relationships along the way.

Last year, I covered the landmark SEC decision to recognize corporate blogs and potentially other forms of Social Media as a recognized form of meeting public disclosure requirements under Regulation FD (Fair Disclosure) – in some cases. It was a significant validation of a widely recognized medium for facilitating information between companies and stakeholders. Jonathan Schwartz, CEO of Sun, among many others, successfully lobbied over the years for official recognition of blog and the SEC finally took notice.

Sarah Lacy is an exceptional reporter with a unique flair for cutting through the fluff, extracting the real story, and communicating it with a scrupulous sense of relevance, impact, and vision.

She’s an award winning journalist and author of the upcoming book, “Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good: The Rebirth of Silicon Valley and the Rise of Web 2.0.” Lacy has been a reporter in Silicon Valley for a decade, covering everything from the tiniest startups to the largest public companies. She writes for TechCrunch, contributes a biweekly column for BusinessWeek.com called “Valley Girl,” and is co-host of Yahoo! Finance’s Tech Ticker.

Seems that even the shiniest applications on the Web also face the same growing pains as any product, no matter where it resides on the adoption bell curve.

While many widely speculated the total number of new users who were introduced to Twitter as a result of the now infamous race to 1,000,000 followers, we do know that the number seems to hover between 500,000 and 1.2 million. When compared to the estimated existing user base of ~5 million heading into the race, the final number represents a significant spike in visibility, trials, and subsequent adoption. Irrespective of the exact number, believe that the culture of Twitter is forever influenced as it will with every big event.

Twitter represents a technology platform, sustaining ecosystem, and evangelical community that facilitate not only a behavioral transformation in how we communicate and define online relationships, but also represents a fundamental shift in how we listen, share, participate, and learn. For many, Twitter is the catalyst that is inspiring individuals and organizations to discover and observe the real-time conversations and activity that affect perception and influence action. While Social Media has existed well before Twitter, its innovative, instantly gratifying, and seductive spirit is forcing the evolution of networks and applications across the Conversation Prism and the Social Web.

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ABOUT ME

Brian Solis is a digital analyst, anthropologist, and also a futurist. In his work at Altimeter Group, Solis studies the effects of disruptive technology on business and society. He is an avid keynote speaker and award-winning author who is globally recognized as one of the most prominent thought leaders in digital transformation.

His most recent book, What's the Future of Business: Changing the Way Businesses Create Experiences (WTF), explores the landscape of connected consumerism and how business and customer relationships unfold in four distinct moments of truth. His previous book, The End of Business as Usual, explores the emergence of Generation-C, a new generation of customers and employees and how businesses must adapt to reach them. In 2009, Solis released Engage, which is regarded as the industry reference guide for businesses to market, sell and service in the social web.